Women need to be focused and ignore societal paradigm

Traditionally, entrepreneurship and the startup culture have always been represented by the men and the men's club owing to their strong networking skills. I have however seen a paradigm change in the entrepreneurship culture of India in the recent times. The changes have not been dramatic or astronomical, but the signs are there for everyone to acknowledge that the Indian entrepreneurship scene is moving on the right track for women entrepreneurs.

Data shows that only 14% of the business establishments are run by women bosses, however, it is also to be noted that over 79% of these are self financed and only about 4.4% of these have borrowed money from financial institutions.

In my opinion these are the signs of true independence and solidarity of doing business in the present times for woman entrepreneurs. In the past ten years of my tenure as the Director of Sales at Aurelius corporate solutions which provides insourcing solutions, I have witnessed a fine line for myself as an entrepreneur where the challenges convert into favorable circumstances.

Yes I would agree that sometimes there is a feeling of bias towards the male entrepreneurs but if you have the power and force to look beyond and stay firm in your abilities, women can easily break into the upper echelons of the entrepreneurship circle to fortify their positions. It will also help in breaking paradigms and conventional thoughts about their ability to improvise. It has been my sheer zeal to not give up and not be constrained by anything which has helped me bring Aurelius to the position it is today.

I have been able to connect with the biggest names of the global industry like TCS, John Deere, Capgemini, L&T, Cadilla pharma, Sun Pharma and Mercedes, providing top notch and niche insourcing solutions. I believe in a simple fundamental rule, “you don't fail when you lose; you fail when you give up.” I feel this is one of the biggest challenges for women entrepreneurs, be constrained by the societal and industrial paradigms and give up in the long or short run.

The world's share of female entrepreneurs stands at a high 34% and it is not at all difficult to surpass in Indian subcontinent. Being in the learning and the technology consultancy industry, I find myself interacting everyday with industrial representatives on a daily basis from across the globe.Having conversations on the similar lines with industry professionals, I have witnessed some of the earlier challenges of funding and networking, beginning to simmer down in the past few years.

The entrepreneurship scene has matured and now venture capitalists and the “boys clubs” have started recognizing the importance of female entrepreneurs with venture funding becoming relatively easier than before. It is going to be a rise time for the female entrepreneurs and I believe that every challenge to be faced can be converted into a favourable circumstance.